Posts

Schiaparelli: Fashion Becomes Art

Image
Glamorous exhibition at the Victoria and Albert Museum on the life of Elsa Schiaparelli and her fashion house. I loved this show! It was so well set out and full of beautiful clothes both from the original house and its reboot in this century under Daniel Roseberry. I liked the way it set out the ethos of Schiaparelli's designs then built on that to look at her clients and accessories. It used Roseberry's pieces sparingly through the early rooms before introducing a dedicated display at the end including Ariana Grande's Oscar dress complete with ruby slipper on the back. I think my favourite room was the semi-circle of jackets displayed like art works and at eye level so you could study the details. That was the only place where I experienced a bottle neck partly caused by the dramatic changing lighting which meant people were pausing to get the best light for a photograph and yes, I admit I was one of the guilty parties. I loved the room examining her collaboration ...
Post a Comment
Read more

Online Curator's Talk: Schiaparelli: Fashion Becomes Art

Image
Useful online lecture from the Victoria and Albert Museum introducing their exhibition on the designer Elsa Schiaparelli. I went to the show the next day and this was a very useful introduction to it. I was so overwhelmed by the beautiful clothes it was good to have a narrative in my head already rather than having to piece it together via the labels. The was both enhanced by but also suffered from having four speakers, Sonnet Stanfill, Lydia Caston, Rosalind McKever and Simon Sladen. All of them were good but it made the talk a bit fragmented. They outlined the four themes of the show and talked us through the highlights.
Post a Comment
Read more

Primate of All England The Archbishop of Canterbury Through Time

Image
Moving exhibition at Lambeth Palace Library looking at the history of the Archbishops of Canterbury. I say moving as I was there as Sarah Mullally was being enthroned at Canterbury Cathedral. As I was out and about I wasn't able to watch but spotted this show was on when I was in the area. I looked round the show then sat in the corner and watched the news reports coming through on BBC News live. The show highlighted some of the more intriguing figures mainly with a facsimile of archive material. It would have been nice to see more original pieces but given it was an unmonitored show I can see why this wasn't possible. A side room had display cases of objects a lot of which seem to have been donated/left behind by Archbishop Davidson. My favourite piece was the order of service for the enthronement of William Temple in 1942 signed by dignitaries who attended given the day. Closed 4 May 2026
Post a Comment
Read more

Melissa Scott-Miller: London Parks and Gardens

Image
Wonderful exhibition at the Garden Museum of Melissa Scott-Miller's paintings of London Gardens. I had come across Scott-Miller's work before in the Royal Academy Summer Exhibition and loved it so it was fantastic to see it en masse. She pulls you in to look at the detail and to spot people, dogs and cats dominated by the foliage. Most moving was to see paintings of the museum's own gardens alongside as some aspects of the London great parks I didn’t know so I need to do more wandering. Closed 29 March 2026
Post a Comment
Read more

Seeds of Exchange: Canton and London in the 1700s

Image
Delightful exhibition at the Garden Museum exploring a botanical collaboration in the 18th century to collect seeds and botanical specimens from China. John Bradby Blake travelled to China as a supercargo (my fact of the day), a commercial agent overseeing cargo and trade employed by the British East India Company. While living there he worked with Chinese experts to documents 138 plants native to China, Whang at Tong, an expert on plants and Mak Sau, am artist. The show included lots of Mak Sau's beautiful detailed botanical studies often done over a number of months so he could record the full cycle of a plant. These were shown with extensive archive material from Blake's archive which was brought back to England by Whang at Tong on his death. I loved two portraits of Whang at Tong by Reynolds from his time in England and his presence dominated the show. Closed 10 May 2026
Post a Comment
Read more

Triple Trouble

Image
Quirky exhibition at the Newport Street Gallery featuring work by Damian Hirst, Shepard Fairley and Invader. Fairley and Invader are both street artists and I'll admit I'm not very knowledgeable on street art so I didn't know their work, however this exhibition shows their work alongside collaborations between both of them and Hirst. At times it felt like an amusing mickey take of each other such as this work by Hirst and Invader using the latter's iconic symbol. Works included butterfly pictures and different takes on Hirst's spot pictures.   I would have liked a bit more explanation, but I gather this comes in an interview with the artists in the accompanying catalogue but I'd afraid I wasn't up for a big purchase. Evidently there was an extract in a free exhibition newspaper but as I went in the last week there was no sign of these. Closed 29 March 2026 Review Guardian
Post a Comment
Read more

Premiums 2026 part 2

Image
Intriguing exhibition at the Royal Academy of work by ten 2nd year students at the RA Schools. Sadly I missed the first of this series of shows this year. Thanks to the security guard on duty who pointed out one of the works to me which was hidden on the side of a pillar and looks just like the room’s control box next to it. I was trying to work out which was the art! Some of the work was interesting but I will make my usual complaint about these shows that the work needs more explanation. Without a bit of blurb it can be intriguing and attractive but impenetrable. I feel a short explanation by the students would also be a good way of helping them to sell their ideas in the future. Anyway my favourite this time was this figure and 4 screen video by Huang Ziyue “Giraffe Neck Circling the Earth Three Times”. I loved the colours and humour but have no idea what it was saying. A big shout out to Wincent Szczerba who had actually done a painting! Closed 22 April 2026
Post a Comment
Read more